WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

KARL SHUKER: INTRODUCING THE NANDINIA - AFRICA'S PARADOXICAL, PARACHUTING EX-PALM CIVET



Karl Shuker investigates the paradoxical nandinia, a parachuting ex-palm civet from Africa.

Read on...

Attempt to sequence Bigfoot genome becomes a scientific disaster

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.


Photo: public domain

Earlier this year, a team of researchers from DNA Diagnostics in Nacogdoches, N.M., led by Melba Ketchum, published a paper to the online journal De Novo with a startling title: "Novel North American Hominins, Next Generation Sequencing of Three Whole Genomes and Associated Studies."
In layman's terms, what "novel North American hominins" refers to is Bigfoot. Yes, that's right: Ketchum and her team were claiming to have sequenced the genome of Sasquatch.

It's not every day that researchers get the opportunity to sequence the genome of a creature for which no recognized physical evidence exists. In fact, this would be the first instance of such an endeavor. The principal reason it's never been done before is because, of course, you need to have DNA before you can sequence a genome.

Though Ketchum and her team did not have a body, they did have several clumps of hair, as well as samples of flesh and blood, which were collected in the field. In fact, the team assembled as many as 111 samples from which to extract DNA — again, a remarkable feat considering no Bigfoot body has ever been identified.

Before succumbing to a collective eye roll, first consider that most of these samples, though collected unattached from an identifiable animal, did turn out to be unusual. Researchers were able to successfully determine that the samples were non-human in origin, yet the mitochondrial DNA derived from them did appear to be human.

ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.



CRYPTOLINK: Cryptozoic Man Creeps Into Comic Shops


A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.
A concept that made its début on AMC’s Comic Book Men is finding its way into your local comic shops thanks to Dynamite Entertainment. The four-issue series launching in October is done by the stars of the reality show and Jay and Silent Bob alum Bryan Johnson and Walter Flanaghan.
CryptozoicMan01-Cov-Flanagan-TempCryptozoic Man focuses on a man searching for his missing daughter who may have been kidnapped byBig-Foot, then the man is abducted by aliens and learns the fate of the world depends on him capturing the Sasquatch and defeating a psycho in a pig-shaped leather bondage mask.
Johnson described the series this way:
What do you call a man who’s lost everything, a race of creepy extraterrestrials, a psychopath who sports a bondage-style, leather pig mask, a dimension choc-a-bloc full of nightmarish creatures, as well as Bigfoot, El Chupachabra, and a host of other cryptids?  You call it Cryptozoic Man! It’s a delicious monstery stew coming your way just in time for Halloween!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/07/12/cryptozoic-man-creeps-into-comic-shops/ 

THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS ON THE ROAD AGAIN

While Jon's away we've had a delivery of what are described on the paperwork as "large shelters," which made me think back to the 1980s and some people's preps for a nuclear war. 

These shelters won't be much use for that, though, as they're only large by guinea-pig standards. Actually, they're for our quails, which are pretty much the size of small guinea-pigs but a bit more daft.
 
They're now exploring the shelters and learning which wall is which...
 
So... What's new on the Gonzo Daily?
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
Today's Track of the Day is a video of various bizarre "music fails" that suggest we're working in a pretty dangerous industry!
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/gonzo-track-of-day-various-bizarre.html
 
 
 

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1999 Tony Hawk landed the first successful 900 (two and a half full revolutions) on a skateboard to ever be filmed.

And now the news:



Talking of Skateboards...